'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' is a good #1. Its one of the big power ballads of the 80s, there are a few more to come in 1987.

 

Something Inside (So Strong) is a very good song, also of course iconic.

Even before that, I noticed 'We Built This City' in a few online polls of 'The Worst Songs Ever' because a lot of people thought they had 'sold out' and become 'corporate rock' compared to their their cool Jefferson Airplane days.

 

I never heard any of their original stuff they don’t seem to have a history on polyhex!

The first 2 Jesus & Mary Chain albums are amazing, kinda uncommercial, so it's surprising to see April Skies top 10

big fav of mine is Just Like Honey from their debut Psychocandy, which sadly stalled at #45. one of the best flops of the 80s :)

 

the new Level 42 is great too, great they finally could get easy top 10 after so many flops in their early days

16TH MAY

 

 

Starship go into hyperspace this week as “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” sold a sturdy 99,280 copies last week bringing its total to 227,715 and should also enable the song to enter the top 10 YTD next week.

 

 

The strength of the single is of course bad news to all its competitors who were all well beaten, Judy Boucher holds at No 2 for a fourth week (36,601) but is in decline and has the rest of the top 6 snapping at her heels with all of them climbing. Tom Jones moves 4-3 (33,422), Labi Siffre jumps 7-4 (21,573), Living In A Box rise 6-5 (21,505) and Kim Wilde & Junior advance 9-6 (19,822). It’s a great week for Wilde though as “You Keep Me Hangin On” becomes a US chart topper. Make no mistake however as sales below the top 3 are awful and new lows for the year (since 11/1/86 in fact), another measure is that Kim Wilde and Junior lose sales in their 3 place climb! That is explained partly due to a bank holiday being in the mix.

 

 

The only new track to discuss comes from the rejuvenated Fleetwood Mac who have of course just lost Lindsey Buckingham from their line up after he announced his departure. Their 14th album “Tango In The Night” advances 8-5 to reach a new peak this week and contains many songs written by Buckingham for what was going to be a solo album but ended up becoming Fleetwood Mac tracks including the first single from the album “Big Love” which arrives 13-9 (18,360). It’s only the group’s 7th top 10 single over the course of their 18 year history and their first release in 5 years.

 

 

Three fallers to cover briefly, Madonna dips 3-7 (19,601), Five Star implode 5-8 (18,938) and Jesus & Mary Chain reverse 8-10 (17,391)

 

 

1- NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW- Starship (99,280)

2- CAN’T BE WITH YOU TONIGHT- Judy Boucher (36,601)

3- A BOY FROM NOWHERE- Tom Jones (33,422)

4- (SOMETHING INSIDE) SO STRONG- Labi Siffre (21,573)

5- LIVING IN A BOX- Living In A Box (21,505)

6- ANOTHER STEP (CLOSER TO YOU)- Kim Wilde & Junior (19,822)

7- LA ISLA BONITA- Madonna (19,601)

8- THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH- Five Star (18,938)

9- BIG LOVE- Fleetwood Mac (18,360)

10- APRIL SKIES- Jesus & Mary Chain (17,391)

 

Ooooo we've hit Tango in the Night era for Fleetwood Mac. I've sadly never heard the album but I think I like all the singles from it so Big Love is a welcome addition to the top 10

'Big Love' is brilliant! Way better than their other singles from that album!

don't think I've herd the album in full either but the singles from it where all fantastic

oh didn't know Labi Siffre had written It Must Be Love, always imagined it was a Madness original

too good to be one of theirs actually when I think about it

Yeh the Madness version is the version though to be fair to them!

 

‘Everywhere’ is just simply pop perfection!

Yeh the Madness version is the version though to be fair to them!

 

‘Everywhere’ is just simply pop perfection!

 

I can see the 'oh oh's and 'dreamy' background synths make 'Big Love' fit with 'Everywhere' on the album. I just much prefer 'Big Love' probably because unlike 'Everywhere', it hasn't been overplayed on radio, TV etc.

 

I much prefer 'Big Love' I can see with its beat and atmosphere how it became, according to wikipedia, a standard of the Balearic beat dance sound.

Edited January 23, 20241 yr by TheSnake

Out of the songs I know, for me the best song is Little Lies, then Big Love, then Seven Wonders

and the one I like the least least least is Everywhere

I think that's probably my order of choice too, Little Lies is definitely my favourite.

Two main things of interest for me here is just how big that Judy Boucher is (a month at No 2) and how forgotten it is now given that fact, and how poor sales are, only the top 5 selling over 20k and only the No 1 selling more than 40k. These are sales more popularly thought to be around the 88/89 period but they happened long before we get to those years.

Have never really heard that Judy Boucher song and on listening there, it wasn't the most interesting song for me sadly.

Edited January 23, 20241 yr by TheSnake

I've never listened to Tango In The Night in full either (need to change that) but also really like the singles and the title track, which was used on Strictly (for an Argentine Tango no less) and lead me to search out the original :wub: I think 'Big Love' is actually my favourite of the singles so nice to see that showing up here now!

Two main things of interest for me here is just how big that Judy Boucher is (a month at No 2) and how forgotten it is now given that fact, and how poor sales are, only the top 5 selling over 20k and only the No 1 selling more than 40k. These are sales more popularly thought to be around the 88/89 period but they happened long before we get to those years.

 

Sales seemed to slump very quickly between 84-86 was there any specific reason for that as I always thought it was the 1989-93 period that was notorious for it.

Sales seemed to slump very quickly between 84-86 was there any specific reason for that as I always thought it was the 1989-93 period that was notorious for it.

It was attributed at the time to people moving slowly to cd singles (indeed there is some logic to this if you look at what happened when we moved to downloads from CD's in the 2004 to 2008 period which had poor sales in this years until it went into boom period for downloads) though I'm not entirely sure why moving from one format to another is a big issue. Then again I didn't get my first CD player until 1989 but I bought 7" and 12" up to that point.

 

I suppose the unemployment rates may be a factor and people not having the money to buy the luxury of a single though even that was heading in the right direction by 1987 compared with 85 and 86.

Big Love is a great addition to the top 10.

 

Can't say i'm surprised the Judy Boucher thing isn't remembered, I will probably forget it again after listening to it. Not much to offer.

I think the transition period from vinyl to CD was very long and slow

some like me never wanted to accept CDs :D I didn't give up on vinyls and get a CD player until 92!

I can imagine I would have wanted vinyls ahead of cds as they look a lot better but that’s rose tinted glasses and all that!

23RD MAY

 

 

No sign of the pace slackening for Starship who remain the nation’s No 1 raising their total to 338,453 after selling 110,738 copies last week. It now puts “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” at No 5 on the YTD list with a slight chance of overtaking current leaders Mel & Kim in under a month unless a dramatic collapse occurs.

 

 

 

Their first single on RAK “Me And My Foolish Heart” may have failed to chart (No 112) but it certainly raised interest in the music business for Johnny Hates Jazz, a trio formed a couple of years ago and containing Clark Datchler son of Fred Datchler a member of former chart topping band The Stargazers back in the 50s. The band were signed to Virgin after the release of their first single and a showcase at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and here the first fruits of their signing with a major label are clear to see with “Shattered Dreams” becoming a hit 18-5 (24,871).

 

 

 

Out next month is Marillion’s Fourth album “Clutching At Straws” and a precursor to that the band’s first single in 2 years “Incommunicado” crashes straight into the charts at No 6 (23,545). In doing so it is by far the highest debut for Fish and the boys, both the sleeve for the single, the promo and the lyrics play homage to the legendary club “The Marquee” which helped give Marillion exposure in the early part of the career and also featured in the Wham! video for “I’m Your Man” a few years ago. After its sterling start could it be No 1 next week?

 

 

 

But wait! There’s another brand new entry in the top 10, this time from the returning Whitney Houston who is also off to the best start of her career as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” smashes straight into No 10 (18,139). It’s produced by Narada Michael Walden (meaning that he bookends the top 10 this week) and is written by the same team behind Houston’s “How Will I Know” and is the first release from Houston’s second album “Whitney” which hits the shops next month.

 

 

“A Boy From Nowhere” becomes Tom Jones’s fifth No 2 smash (but first in 16 years) as it glides 3-2 (38,148) and finally overcomes Judy Boucher who slips 2-3 (35,360) ahead of the holding Labi Siffre at No 4 (34,221). Fleetwood Mac hold at No 9 (19,210) propping up Living In A Box 5-7 (20,859) and Kim Wilde & Junior 6-8 (19,533) who both start to descend the charts.

 

 

1- NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW- Starship (110,738)

2- A BOY FROM NOWHERE- Tom Jones (38,148)

3- CAN’T BE WITH YOU TONIGHT- Judy Boucher (35,360)

4- (SOMETHING INSIDE) SO STRONG- Labi Siffre (34,221)

5- SHATTERED DREAMS- Johnny Hates Jazz (24,871)

6- INCOMMUNICADO- Marillion (23,545)

7- LIVING IN A BOX- Living In A Box (20,859)

8- ANOTHER STEP (CLOSER TO YOU)- Kim Wilde & Junior (19,533)

9- BIG LOVE- Fleetwood Mac (19,210)

10- I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME)- Whitney Houston (18,139)